Invalid-footrest



F. H. TOWNSEND. !NVALID FOOTREST.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26, I920- 1,365,750. Patented Jan. 18,1921,

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

F. H. TOWNSEND.

' INVALID FOOTREST, APPLICATION men APR.'26.1920.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

2 SHEEIS-SHEEI 2.

Int e2: c 01 $1M; w: W

ymrwm, Ac 0rrz9r FREDERICK H. TOWNSEND, OF ROXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS.

INVALID-FOOTREST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

Application filed April 26, 1920. Serial No. 376,646.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. TowN- SEND, a citizen of the United States, residing at Roxbury, in the county of Sufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Invalid-Footrests,'of which the following descri tion, in connection with the accompanying rawings is a specification, like characters on the senting like parts.

The invention herein to be described relates to foot rests and attachments used in connection therewith, and more particularly to a foot rest constructed to havethe feet of a person braced thereagainst while sitting up in bed. i

Very often, when a person, from illness or other reason, is confined to his bed, it is desirable for him to sit up in bed in an inclined position, usually with several pillows back of him; but as is well known, when a person sits in this position he experiences a gradual tendency to slide down in bed. This s annoying, particularly when the person 1s too weak to restore himself to the sitting position.

The tendency to slide down in bed is due to the fact that when a person leans back against the pillows or head of the bed, the inclination at which he leans back forms two components, one acting downward in a vertical direction and the other in a horizontal direction toward the foot of the bed. This horizontal force, when not sufiiciently countel-acted, causes the person to gradually slide down in bed, with the result that if he is too weak to restore himself to the sitting position, he must remain in the lying position until he is again assisted to the sitting position.

An important object of the present invention is to enable a person to easily prevent himself from sliding down in bed from a sitting position by providing a foot-rest in a comfortable positionagainst which he may brace his feet, and to provide means for retaining the foot-rest in the desiredposition.

Another object of the invention is to provide the foot-rest with means for supporting the bed covering out of contact with the persons legs.

Another object of the invention is to make certain parts of the same adjustable to meet the various needs of different persons; and still another object is to so construct the various parts of the invention that they may rawings reprebe quickly and easily assembled, or taken apart to form a compact package.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a good, practlcalform of the invention, the details of which may be modified within the true scope thereof, as defined by the claims.

In the drawings Figu re 1 is a side View of a bed with the invention used in connection therewith, shown in section, and in use by a person sitting up in bed, the covers being cut by a longitudinal section in order to better disclose the invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of a bed showing the invention applied thereto, the cover ing which is usually placed over the footrest, when in use being omitted;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional View through a portion of the foot-rest and parts connected thereto;

F 4 is a sectionalview taken on the line tf-4, of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a side View of a spring used in connection with the foot-rest.

In the drawings, the numeral 10 is used to designate one end or the head of the bed, and the numeral 11 to designate the opposite end or foot of the bed; and the numeral 1:2 is used to designate the lower sheet or other bed clothing upon which the occupant of the bed normally lies. in, the drawings is of the metal type such as is commonly used in hospitals, but it is to be understood that the device forming the subject-matter of this invention is well adapted for use in connection with various types of beds.

In the present instance of the invention, a transversely-extending plate 13 is shown. having the posts 15 secured to the opposite ends thereof, in any suitable manner, and these posts are preferably provided with the downward]y-extending curved feet '15 which. project a short distance below the lower ed of theplate 13. The plate 13 is preferably curved in cross section, as best shown in Fig. 4, and this plate is preferably supported by the posts 14: so that the lower edge of the same is an inch or so above the sheet 12. This is desirable in order that the heels of the persons feet engaging this curved plate will clear the lower edge of the same. In order to provide means for retaining the foot-brace consisting of the plate 13 and posts 14 the desired distance from the foot of the bed. tubular rods 1.6 are preferably provided and The bed shown I may be removably secured to the posts 14; by providing these posts with threaded lugs 17 adapted to receive internal threads formed within one end of the tubes 16. The second tubes 18 are preferably telescopically mounted within the tubes 16, and are arranged to be secured in any desired position of longitudinal adjustment by wing nuts 19 mounted on the threaded bolts 20 secured in a wall of the inner tubes 18 and extending through longitudinally-extending slots 21 formed in the tubes 16. In the embodiment of the invention shown, the relatively long trans versely-extending bar 22 is provided, to which the rear ends of the tubes 18 are removably secured, preferably by providing the bar 22 with the threa ded studs 23 adapted to receive internal threads formed in the rear end of the tubes 18. The ends of the bar 22 are shown as resting against the :orner posts of the end 11 of the bed, but this is not an essential feature of the invention, since it is apparent that if the rear ends of the tubes 18 or the bar to which they are secured abuts against any portion of the foot-board of the bed, the foot-rest will be held spaced therefrom. The obj eet in making the rods extending between the posts 14 and bar 22 adjustable, is in order that the foot-brace maybe retained any desired dis tance from the foot of the bed, so that the same may be adjusted to a comfortable position for different patients using the same. In order that the persons feet will not come in direct contact with the metal, wood, or other material of which the plate 13 is constructed, it is desirable to provide a covering of cloth or some other suitable material for the same, such as indicated by 24; and to provide convenient means for removably securing this cover to the plate 13, the upper and lower marginal edges of this plate are preferably bent rearwardly to form loops, indicated by 25, in Fig. 4. After the cover has been placed over the curved face of the plate 18 the marginal edges of the cover 246' may be Iolded around into the loops 25 and conveniently secured therein by the M shaped spring member 26 which is so constructed that the same tends to spread, to thereby clamp the edge portions 24 in the loops 25.

The toes of many persons are more-ordess sensitive, so that when a person is sitting up in bed, it is often desirable to provide means for supporting the weight of the bed covering ofl' of his toes; and for this purpose the foot-brace may be provided with an adjustable bracket consisting of a horizontallyextending bar 27 which may be supported in the desired position of adjustment above the posts 1 1 by the rods 28, the lower ends of which are preferably slidably received in vertically-extending sockets 29 formed in the posts 14:; and when the bar 27 has been raised or lowered to the desired position of adj ust ment, it may be secured in this position by the set screws 30 preferably having winged heads, as shown. The rods 28 may be bent rearwardly, as shown, in order to support the bar 27 to the rear of the plate 13.

When the device herein described is to he used by a person whose legs are very sensi tive, under such condition, for example, as when they have been severely burned, it may be very desirable to provide means for supporting the bed covering out of engagement with his legs; and for this purpose the iongitudinally-adjustable bracket members 31 may be provided. One end of these bracket members may be bent downwardly to l'orm feet 32 positioned to rest upon the sheet or the like 12, at some distance from the footbrace, whereas the opposite ends of these bracket members may be removably secured to the bar 27 by providing this bar with threaded studs 38 adapted to have internal threads formed in the hollow bracket members 31 screwed thereupon. The bracket members 31 are preferably constructed of hollow bars 34- and 35, one of which constructed to slide telescopically within the other and to be secured in any desired. position of adjustment by clamping means similar to that described in connection with the F telescopically adjustable bars 16 and 18.

The bracket members 31 preferably extend in diverging directions from the bar 27 and are retained in their spaced relation to each other by a cross-bar 36 which may extend through holes formed in the bars 2H; and may be secured thereto by the clamping means 37.

From the above description it will be seen that the foot-brace consisting of the curved plate 13 and the posts let may be secured in any desired position of adjustment from the foot of the bed. It will also be seen that the cover-supporting bar 27 may be supported at the desired height above the sheet or the like 12 to hold the bed covering out of contact with the persons feet; and if it desired to support the covering cit of the persons legs, also, this may be very satisfactorily accomplished by the adjustable bracket members 31. It will also be seen that the parts just mentioned may be very easily and quickly disassembled when it is no longer desired to use the same, as the adjustable rods 16 and 18 may be unscrewed from both the bar 22 and the posts 1 1-, whereas the bracket members 31 may be easily disconnected from the transversely-extending bar 27 and from the connecting rod 36.

Although the foot-rest herein described is designed more particularly to be used for a person sitting up in bed to brace his feet against the same in order to prevent him from gradually sliding down, it may be desirable in some cases, for a person who is lying down in bed to use the same, because under some conditions, he may find it desirable to have a rest against which he can place his feet; and even if he does not desire to do this, he may wish to use the mechanism above described for supporting the bed covering 38 out of contact with his feet and legs.

What is claimed is 1. In a device of the character described, the combination of a foot rest constructed and arranged to rest upon the bed and against which the feet of a person may rest while in bed, means for spacing the foot rest from one end of the bed, a cross-bar mounted above the footrest for supporting the bedcovering above the foot-rest and out of contact with the persons feet, and side bars extending forward from the foot rest for supporting the bed-covering out of contact with the persons legs.

2. A foot rest constructed to have the feet of a person braced thereagainst while in bed, comprising a foot brace provided with means for supporting the same above the mattress, and in position to be engaged by the feet of a person while in bed, adjustable means extending from said brace into position to engage an end of the bed to retain the brace a desired distance therefrom, and a bar supported upon said brace and adjustable bodily toward and from the brace to hold the bed covering out of engagement with the feet of the person.

3. In a device of the class described, a foot brace constructed to rest upon the bed in position to be engaged by the feet of a person in bed, longitudinally ad ustable rods secured to said brace and extending therefrom to engage an end of the bed to retain the brace a desired distance therefrom, means adjustably supported upon said brace for holding the bed covering out of engagement with the persons feet, and spaced bars extending from said last-mentioned means to support the bed covering out of engagement with the persons legs.

4. A foot rest constructed to have the feet of a person braced thereagainst while in bed, comprising a bar for engagement with an end of the bed, a foot brace constructed to rest upon the bed in position to be engaged by the persons feet, and telescopically adjustable rods extending from said brace to said bar to retain the brace a desired distance from an end of the bed, said telescopic rods having threaded engagement with the brace and bar respectively to form a removable connection therebetween.

5. A foot rest constructed to have the feet of a person braced thereagainst while in bed, comprising a foot plate havin the opposite marginal edges thereof folded rearward to form open loops, a flexible nonmetallic cover for said plate, means for yieldingly clamping the marginal edges of said cover in said loops, and means for holding said brace a desired distance from an end of said bed.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination of a foot rest constructed and arranged to rest upon the bed and against which the feet of a person may rest while in bed, means for spacing the foot rest from one end of the bed, a cross-bar mounted above the foot-rest for supporting the bed-covering above the foot-rest and out of contact with the persons feet, side bars extending forward from the foot-rest for supporting the bed-covering out of contact with the persons legs, and supports for the ends of the bars near the head of the bed for holding the bars in cover-supporting position.

7 In a device of the character described, the combination of a foot-rest constructed and arranged to rest upon the bed andagainst which the feet of a person may rest while in bed, means for spacing the footrest from one end of the bed, a cross-bar mounted above the foot-rest for supporting the bed-covering above the footrest and out of contact with the persons feet, side bars adjustable in length and extending forward from the foot-rest for supporting the bed clothing out of contact with the persons legs, and a cross-bar extending between the side bars near the forward end of the side bars to retain the latter in spaced relation.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination of a foot-rest constructed and arranged to rest upon the bed and against which the feet of a person may rest While in bed, a cross-bar for supporting the bed covering out of contact with the persons feet, vertically adjustable rods for supporting the cross-bar in different positions of adjustment above the foot-rest, side bars connected to the cross-bar and extending forward upon each side of a person in bed for supporting the bed covering out of contact with the persons legs, and means for adjustably connecting the side bars in spaced relation adjacent their forward ends.

9. In a device of the character described, the combination of a foot-rest against which the feet of a person may rest while in bed, said footrest comprising a foot plate and a pair of spaced upright posts the lower ends of which rest upon the bed, said posts having the foot plate extending therebetween and secured thereto. and adjustable rods extending from said posts into position to be supported by an end of the bed to retain the foot-rest a desired distance from said end.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

FREDERICK H. TOWNSEND. 

